Democrats are looking to block campus carry and an anti-abortion measure by running out the clock

Updated 3:05 pm, Tuesday, May 26, 2015

AUSTIN — Up against a key legislative deadline, controversial proposals dealing with guns and abortion are now in jeopardy of dying in the Texas House after a bloc made up mostly of Democrats successfully beat back an attempt Tuesday by Republicans to expedite the list of bills set for debate.

Lawmakers in the House are facing a midnight deadline to tentatively approve Senate proposals.

And Republicans are pushing to plow through a long calendar of bills to ensure the lower chamber gets a chance to vote on two measures: one to allow gun owners with a concealed carry license to tote pistols into campus buildings and dormitories, along with a separate proposal that would ban health insurance plans in the state from covering abortion.

To do that, Republicans attempted a parliamentary maneuver to accelerate the House's calendar of bills. But Democrats mustered enough votes to quash the move.

"The calendar that is before us today has already been put forth and has already been laid out," state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said from the House floor minutes before Democrats prevailed. "I see no reason now to change that process in the last minute."

Several Republicans, including state Reps. Sarah Davis of Houston and Rick Galindo of San Antonio, joined Democrats to vote against the move. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, voted with Republicans to suspend House rules to accelerate the day's calendar.

The campus carry and anti-abortion measures are currently listed behind about three dozen bills, including a sweeping ethics proposal that could chew up the lower chamber for a long time. The two bills would be considered dead, in theory, if they do not receive a House vote Tuesday.

After the vote, one Republican voluntarily pulled his bill off the calendar, a move others in the GOP could follow to try and move the calendar along quicker.

Democrats have pledged to talk as long as possible on every bill that comes up for debate in an attempt to run out the clock -- a tactic known in the House as "chubbing."